Lining device

ABSTRACT

A lining device comprising guide means and drive means which control the movement of a projection device in two coordinate directions over a photographic film. The projection device comprises a light source, an adjustable apertured diaphragm, and a lens which serves to direct light passing through the diaphragm onto the film in reduced size so that when the projection device is moved, a line is exposed on the film.

l United States Patent [151 3,673,937 Mader 1 1 July 4, 1972 LINING DEVICE 3,323,414 6/1967 Ritchie et al ..95/12 [72] Inventor: Peter Ernst Mad", Lindenmoastrasse 13, 3,543,657 12/1970 Rosenblum ..95/4.5 3,103,849 9/1963 Wise a ..95/12 Zurich, Switzerland 3,004,469 10/1961 Broyer 95/12 [22] Filed: May 19, 1970 [21] Appl- No; 38,658 Prirnary Examiner-Samuel S. Matthews Asszstan! Exammer--Robert P. Gremer Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 30, 1969 Switzerland ..8275/69 [571 ABSTRACT A lining device comprising guide means and drive means which control the movement of a projection device in {W0 If coordinate directions over a photographic film. The projec- ISXI of Search "95/12; M 'tion device comprises a light source, an adjustable apertured diaphragm, and a lens which serves to direct light passing [56] Reerences Clted through the diaphragm onto the film in reduced size so that UNITED STATES PATENTS when the projection device is moved, a line is exposed on the film. 3,458,253 7/1969 Hanson ..95/12 UX 3,548,713 12/1 970 Webster ..95/12 X 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUL "4 1972 SHEET 1 BF 2 Fig.2 2 25 2s Fig.1 33 2s 2s 27 3 LINING DEVICE The present invention relates to a lining device and, more particularly, to a device for producing one or more lines on a film. In print shops it is, for example, often necessary for the printing of tables to set horizontal and vertical lines or to provide printing blocks with such lines. For this purpose, we have lining devices, for example drawing boards, in which a ruler can be moved parallel to itself in order to draw the lines by hand, for example, by means of an inking pen. Working with such devices is comparatively time consuming and the accuracy of the result depends very much on the skill and the attention of the draftsman. This invention is designed to eliminate these disadvantages.

The lining device according to the invention is distinguished by guide means and drive means which make it possible to move a projection device in two coordinate directions over a photographic film, whereby this projection device reveals a light source, at least one diaphragm, and a lens, which reproduces a diaphragm aperture, projected by the light source, on the film, in reduced size, so that when the projection device is moved, a line is exposed on the film.

FIG. 1 is a top view, looking down on the equipment;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section along line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section through a projection device according to line III-III in FIG. 2, on a larger scale, and

FIG. 4 is a top view on some of the parts of the projection device according to line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

The lining equipment or device illustrated has a blockshaped housing 1 with a light-proof lid 2. The housing 1 rests on a table top 4 provided with a recess 3. At some distance above the table top 4, the housing 1 has a bottom 5 which reveals a large circular opening 7 provided with a shoulder 6. In shoulder 6 there is positioned a turn table 8 which, in turn, has a square opening 9. At two opposite edges of the opening 9 we have two guides 10, which are parallel to each other, for two counter-guides 12 provided at corresponding upper edges of an open, square cassette 11. In the middle of the cassette bottom 13 there is attached a handle 14. The turntable 8 is provided with a stop which can engage at two counterstops l6 and 17, which are attached to the housing bottom 5 and which are shifted with respect to each other by an angle of 90. The dot-dash position 14 of the handle 14, shown in this manner in FIG. 1, corresponds to the dot-dash position 15 of the stop 15.

The cassette 11 contains a photographic film 18 with maximum dimensions of 42 X 42 inches, which is mounted on a support, not shown. By means of a projection device 19, the film 18 can be exposed in a manner to be explained in greater detail hereinafter, so that continuous or dotted straight lines, with length and stroke thickness adjustable in advance, can be recorded photographically on the film parallel to one or the other of two coordinate axes perpendicular to each other and at a previously adjustable interval from the corresponding other coordinate axis.

The projection device 19 reveals a lower housing part 20, which is covered by an upper housing part 21 and which is guided on two round guide rails 22 which are perpendicular to the guides 10 and which are attached to their ends in two gliding bodies 23 and 24, which in turn are guided on two round guide rails 25 attached to housing 1. The parts 22-24 thus constitute a rail sled which can be moved along the rails 25, so that the projection device 19, which can be moved along rails 22, can be adjusted in two coordinate directions perpendicular to each other.

The projection device 19 is driven by a reversible electric motor 26 which is mounted on the gliding body 24; this motor, ,via a worm gear, not shown, drives a drive roller 27 for an endless steel band 28 which, on the other side, runs over a reversing roller 29, whereby a section of the band is attached at 30 to the lower housing part 20. The rail sled 22-24 is driven by a reversible stepping motor 31 which is mounted in the housing 1; this motor, via a wonn gear 32, drives a band disk 33 to which one end of a steel band 34 is attached. The

other end of band 34 is attached to a spring drum 35 which keeps it in a tight condition and which eliminates the backlash of the worm gear 32. A projection 36 of the gliding body 24 is attached to the steel band 34.

On a control panel 37, which is on the front of housing 1, there is attached a manually operable adjusting counter 38 which, via electrical lines not shown, is connected with an electronic control device 39 which controls the motor 31. By means of the counter 38, the coordinate of the projection device 19, and thus the light spot produced by that device on film 18, can be adjusted in the direction of the rails 25 with an accuracy of 0.1 mm. An operating handle 40, for the reversible motor 26, is also provided on control panel 37.

In order to restrict the length of the line drawn, each time, in the direction of the rails 22, we have two rulers 41, parallel to each other, which, by means of pertinent handles 42, can be moved parallel to each other in the direction of rails 22. Every handle 42 is provided with a halfnut 43, which is elastically positioned on a pertinent worm-gear spindle 44, which, on the right, is provided with a micrometric adjusting knob 45. The two worm-gear spindles 44 are positioned one above the other so that the lower one is not visible in FIG. 1. If we pull on handle 42, the halfnut 43 is disengaged with spindle 44 and the ruler can be moved laterally along guides, not shown here, until an indicator 46, connected with the handle 42, indicates roughly the desired starting point and terminal point of the line to be drawn, on a scale 47. If we then let go of handle 42, the halfnut 43 is once again made to engage with spindle 44 by means of a spring, not shown, so that, by means of the micrometric adjusting knob 45, one can perform any possibly still necessary fine adjustment.

According to FIG. 3, a light source 48 is placed in upper housing part 21 of projection device 19; this light source-via condenser lens 49 and a reflector 50--projects through a rectangular opening 51 in a nontransparent cover or coating 53 of a transparent disk or diaphragm 52. The opening 51 is projected on film 18, in a heavily reduced size, through a projection objective 54. It will be seen that the smaller side of the rectangular opening 51, which according to FIG. 4 is directed perpendicularly to the openings 22, determines the stroke width of the straight line which the projection device draws on film 18 during its working motion.

The disk or diaphragm 52 is attached in a corresponding recess of a rotatable support 55 and its cover or coating 53 is provided with a rim of 18 rectangular openings 51 with varying radial extent so that each one of these openings can be placed in the projection position and so that straight lines with greatly differing stroke thickness can be drawn. In support 55, under the openings 51, there are provided somewhat larger passage openings 56 for the path of the image reproduction rays. In order to hold the stroke-thickness-adjustmentdiaphragm 52, 53, thus constituted, in its various rotation positions, support 55 is provided at its edge with 18 edge recesses 57, in which a roller 59 attached to lever 58, omitted in FIG. 3, can engage under the influence of a spring 60. The support 55 is firmly connected with a rotating shaft 61, which is positioned in the lower housing part 20; on this shaft there is a worm wheel 62 which, via a worm-gear 63, can be driven from a rotatably positioned shaft 64. One end of the shaft 64, which is provided with an operating knob, protrudes out of housing 1 through a horizontal slit; this is not shown in the drawing. The gear 62, 63, or example, due to the axial spring support of the worm-gear 63, provides sufficient play to guarantee the exact adjustment of the adjusting diaphragm 52, 53 in the stop locations of the stop means 57-60.

In order to be able to draw not only lines with difi'erent thickness but also dotted or broken lines, a narrow sector of a drum diaphragm 67 is projected from the inside by light source 48 via condenser lens 65 and a reflector 66. The drum diaphragm 67 comprises a plurality of openings 68 and is removably mounted on a rotatable support 69. The support 69 is firmly connected with a shaft 70 which is rotatably positioned in lower housing part 20 and which bears a pinion 71,

which engages a tooth rack 72. The tooth rack 72, which was omitted in FIG. 1, is firmly mounted on rail sled 22-24 so that, when the projection device 19 is moved on guide rails 22, the diaphragm drum 67 undergoes a turn proportional to this shift.

A reflector 74 is movable about pivot 73 to a first working position, drawn in a continuous line in FIG. 3, vertically behind the sector of the drum diaphragm 67 which is projected via reflector 66. By means of an electromagnet 75, with whose anchor it is connected kinematically in a manner only partly indicated in FIG. 3, the reflector 74 can be swung out into a second, dot-dash working position 74. In this second working position 74, the reflector 74 interrupts the image reproduction ray path of the opening 51 and reproduces the diaphragm aperture 68, which is opposite it, on film 18, via the objective 54. As the result of the rotation of the drum diaphragm 67, the latters openings 68 are successively placed in the projection position and the film 18 is not exposed during the opening intervals. The entire assembly is so dimensioned that the image of the moving diaphragm aperture 68 remains standing in the useful image reproduction range of the objective 54, on the film 18 which moves relatively to the subjective. To alter the length and thickness of the strokes, namely, dots of the broken line which is drawn in this manner on film 18, we must use a drum diaphragm with different apertures 68. It is clear that the diaphragm apertures 68 can also alternately be made with different dimensions in order to produce dot-dash lines.

Ifwith the proper adjustment of the counter 38, the ruler 41, the adjusting diaphragm 52, the drum diaphragm 67 and the reflector 74we have drawn all of the desired, continuous and/or broken lines in one coordinate direction, on film 18, the cassette 11 is swung around by 90 by means of handle 14, whereupon the desired lines can be drawn in the other coordinate direction.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are as follows:

1. In a lining device comprising a housing, a projection device movable in the direction of a rectangular coordinate system, photographic film, and guide means and drive means for controlling the movement of said projection device over said film, said projection device comprising a light source, an apertured diaphragm and lens means for directing light passing through an aperture in said diaphragm and onto said film so that upon movement of said projection device over said film, one or more lines may be exposed on said film; the improvement comprising a cassette in which the film is disposed, said cassette being rotatable through an angle of 90 relative to the housing between a first terminal position and a second terminal position, the projection device being movable to expose straight lines parallel to one coordinate direction when said cassette is in said first position and being movable to expose straight lines parallel to the other coordinate direction when said cassette is in said second position.

2. The lining device according to claim 1 wherein the projection device comprises two apertured diaphragms which can be used selectively; one diaphragm during the movement of the projection device being immovable with respect to the lens means, and the other diaphragm being provided with a large number of apertures and being movable proportionally to the relative motion between the projection device and the film in such a manner that said apertures are reproduced, one after the other, on the film in an alternating sequence with unexposed intervals, whereby when the one diaphragm is used, the lines are exposed in a continuous manner on said film, and when the other diaphragm is used, the lines are exposed in an interrupted manner on said film.

3. A lining device according to claim 2 wherein said one diaphragm comprises a large number of apertures of varying size which can be placed selectively in a projection position in order to determine the line thickness.

4. A lining device according to claim 3 wherein said one diaphragm is in the form of a circle, is rotatably movable, and comprises a rim of rectangular openings which are of the same peripheral width and of different radial lengths. I

5. A lining device according to claim 2 wherein said other diaphragm is in the form of a drum having a rim of apertures; wherein lens and reflector means are provided to direct light from the light source to the interior of said drum and then outwardly through apertures in a sector of said drum; and wherein a movable reflector is provided which, in a first working position, allows the image reproduction light ray path from an aperture of the one diaphragm to pass to the film and blocks the image reproduction light ray path from the apertures of the other diaphragm; while, in a second working position, said movable reflector is in the path of the image reproduction light rays from said other diaphragm openings and directs them to said film and interrupts the light ray path from said aperture in said one diaphragm.

6. A lining device according to claim 1 wherein the projection device is guided on a sled having guide rails, fixed guide means are provided for guiding said guide rails, and reversible motor and gear means are provided for the purpose of moving the guide sled.

7. A lining device according to claim 6 wherein said motor means is controlled by an adjustable control device, an an adjusting counter is connected to said control device to adjust it.

8. A lining device according to claim 6 wherein, for the purpose of moving the projection device on the rails of the sled, there is provided reversible motor and endless band means and wherein, for the purpose of interrupting the image reproduction light ray path at the beginning and the end of a particular line exposed in each case, there are provided two adjustable rulers, each of which is provided with an indicator which can be adjusted on a scale. 

1. In a lining device comprising a housing, a projection device movable in the direction of a rectangular coordinate system, photographic film, and guide means and drive means for controlling the movement of said projection device over said film, said projection devIce comprising a light source, an apertured diaphragm and lens means for directing light passing through an aperture in said diaphragm and onto said film so that upon movement of said projection device over said film, one or more lines may be exposed on said film; the improvement comprising a cassette in which the film is disposed, said cassette being rotatable through an angle of 90* relative to the housing between a first terminal position and a second terminal position, the projection device being movable to expose straight lines parallel to one coordinate direction when said cassette is in said first position and being movable to expose straight lines parallel to the other coordinate direction when said cassette is in said second position.
 2. The lining device according to claim 1 wherein the projection device comprises two apertured diaphragms which can be used selectively; one diaphragm during the movement of the projection device being immovable with respect to the lens means, and the other diaphragm being provided with a large number of apertures and being movable proportionally to the relative motion between the projection device and the film in such a manner that said apertures are reproduced, one after the other, on the film in an alternating sequence with unexposed intervals, whereby when the one diaphragm is used, the lines are exposed in a continuous manner on said film, and when the other diaphragm is used, the lines are exposed in an interrupted manner on said film.
 3. A lining device according to claim 2 wherein said one diaphragm comprises a large number of apertures of varying size which can be placed selectively in a projection position in order to determine the line thickness.
 4. A lining device according to claim 3 wherein said one diaphragm is in the form of a circle, is rotatably movable, and comprises a rim of rectangular openings which are of the same peripheral width and of different radial lengths.
 5. A lining device according to claim 2 wherein said other diaphragm is in the form of a drum having a rim of apertures; wherein lens and reflector means are provided to direct light from the light source to the interior of said drum and then outwardly through apertures in a sector of said drum; and wherein a movable reflector is provided which, in a first working position, allows the image reproduction light ray path from an aperture of the one diaphragm to pass to the film and blocks the image reproduction light ray path from the apertures of the other diaphragm; while, in a second working position, said movable reflector is in the path of the image reproduction light rays from said other diaphragm openings and directs them to said film and interrupts the light ray path from said aperture in said one diaphragm.
 6. A lining device according to claim 1 wherein the projection device is guided on a sled having guide rails, fixed guide means are provided for guiding said guide rails, and reversible motor and gear means are provided for the purpose of moving the guide sled.
 7. A lining device according to claim 6 wherein said motor means is controlled by an adjustable control device, an an adjusting counter is connected to said control device to adjust it.
 8. A lining device according to claim 6 wherein, for the purpose of moving the projection device on the rails of the sled, there is provided reversible motor and endless band means and wherein, for the purpose of interrupting the image reproduction light ray path at the beginning and the end of a particular line exposed in each case, there are provided two adjustable rulers, each of which is provided with an indicator which can be adjusted on a scale. 